7 Writing Retreats Around the World For Emerging and Established Writers
electricliterature.com – Sunday March 9, 2025
Writing retreats offer the opportunity for writers to fully immerse themselves in their craft, free from the distractions of daily life. These getaways combine inspiring locations, structured time, and a like-minded community to reignite creativity and boost productivity. Whether you’re seeking solitude to finish a manuscript or a collaborative environment to workshop ideas, a retreat can serve as the perfect catalyst.
I run a writer’s retreat called Studio Luce, steps away from the black sand beach of El Paredón, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. The retreat is hosted in a 3-bed villa, featuring a newly built writing studio, alongside a tropical garden and pool. We offer week-long author-led retreats throughout the year, bringing together small groups of writers to focus on their craft.
While some retreats are well-known—particularly in the U.S.—there are many hidden gems scattered around the world that offer equally transformative experiences. Here are 7 unique international writing retreats for when you need to get away and focus on your writing:
The Trials and Tribulations of Writing Submissions: A Chat with Professor Emma Törzs and Professor Ben Voigt
macalester.edu – Saturday March 8, 2025
It is March 7th, and if you’ve been regularly scanning the English department emails, you’ll know that today is your final day to submit to the department’s three esteemed writing contests. Today, writers, the arduous two-month waiting period commences. Rather than fret over your submissions, The Words is here to offer solace in the wisdom of Professor Emma Törzs ’09 and Professor Ben Voigt ’10, two of the department’s very own contest winners and talented authors.
Professor Emma Törzs won the Harry Scherman Writing Contest in the category of Creative Prose, and Professor Ben Voigt was selected as the Macalester Finalist for the Academy of American Poets Prize.
Do you recall any part of the writing process for your submission?
B: I was working with a mentor, but I switched from fiction to poetry at the end of undergrad. I wrote this piece for an independent study, and it was inspired by and went along with an art installation. The piece was very narrative, but it had a turn near the end, a volta, and I remember thinking, “So, this is what a poem feels like.”
E: Well, my first experience of writing short stories was in college, believe it or not, in Peter Bognanni’s class. Because I started writing short fiction in creative writing classes, my experience of writing fiction was always sort of tied with the idea of deadlines and readership, which I think has actually helped me a lot. Having readers in mind, having an audience in mind, and working with deadlines is something that you continue to do long out of college if you want to keep writing.
New Literary Agent Listing: Madison Potter
firstwriter.com – Friday March 7, 2025
I’m looking for stories with romanticized worlds and literary merit. I’d love to indulge in magical realism, low fantasies, high fantasies, and romantasies with whimsical worlds and undeniable chemistry. As a hopeless romantic, I’m a sucker for byronic heroes and anti-heroes — any complex characters I can guiltily love and defend against friends and family. You can also query me with any love story that’s contemporary but feels like it’s from a different time.
Graham Maw Christie appoints Amandeep Singh as associate agent as Amy O’Shea steps into agenting
thebookseller.com – Thursday March 6, 2025
Graham Maw Christie Literary Agency has appointed Amandeep Singh as associate agent, while Amy O’Shea has stepped up into agenting.
Singh began her career as an editor at Penguin General, going on to work at HarperCollins, Ebury and the Blair Partnership, before moving into a role as agent at The Good Literary Agency. In 2024 she was a judge for the Little Brown New Voices Award.
Singh is bringing authors including Dr Rupert Whitaker, Dr Paulina Rowińska and Bethany Handley with her to Graham Maw Christie. In her new role, she will be “looking for writers who have a unique story to tell, in fiction or non-fiction”.
Jane Graham Maw said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Amandeep Singh to Graham Maw Christie. She is a deep thinker with an astute eye for talent and a passion for seeking new voices and perspectives.”
Brilliant writing advice from famous authors
scottishbooktrust.com – Wednesday March 5, 2025
Looking for a little bit of inspiration from the greats? Author Sarah Forbes Stewart shares her favourite writing advice from some of the best writers around.
Writing! The best job in the world – but also, sometimes, the most impossible. If you’ve ever wanted to write, or you already write but are tortured by the blank page staring up at you, maybe it’s time to get some tips from the greats.
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith, in an interview from 2010, offered this excellent nugget: 'Try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.'
I like the brutality of this simple advice. We can all fall in love with our own ideas, characters and dialogue. It’s a worthwhile skill to leave some breathing space and come back to your writing with a critical eye.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
In a 1938 letter to an aspiring author, Fitzgerald wrote: 'You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner.'
You can write about anything you like – anything! – but you have to put your heart into it.
New Magazine Listing: The Idler
firstwriter.com – Wednesday March 5, 2025
Please email pitches addressed to the editor. We rarely publish unsolicited material, but we do read everything that’s sent to us. Please note that we cannot offer feedback on rejected articles and pitches.
New Literary Agency Listing: Seventh Agency
firstwriter.com – Tuesday March 4, 2025
Accepts submissions in March, July, and November. To submit, sign up to mailing list on website. During open submission periods you will receive a link to the submissions form within 48 hours. If you sign up outside of a submission period, you will be notified a week before the next submission period opens. Currently prioritises UK writers but will accept English language submissions from writers based in other parts of the world.
‘Sign our own death warrant’: Australian writers angry after Melbourne publisher asks them to sign AI agreements
theguardian.com – Tuesday March 4, 2025
Australian writers, literary agents, and the industry’s peak body have expressed their concerned after Black Inc Books asked its authors to consent to their work being used to train artificial intelligence.
The Melbourne publisher, which produces The Quarterly Essay as well as fiction and nonfiction by prominent Australian writers, gave them until today to enter into third-party agreements with an unnamed AI company.
The writers were asked to grant Black Inc “the right to reproduce or use, adapt and exploit the work in connection with the development of any software program, including, without limitation, training, testing, validation and the deployment of a machine learning or generative artificial intelligence system”.
The deal sees the publisher split the net receipts with the author 50/50.
Jane Gregory Bursaries applications open for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2025
thebookseller.com – Tuesday March 4, 2025
Applications are now open for the Jane Gregory Bursaries, which offer three underrepresented writers a unique opportunity to attend the Creative Thursday writing day at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2025.
Creative Thursday is pitched by organiser Harrogate International Festivals as “an immersive and inspiring day of workshops and talks led by industry experts and bestselling crime writers” including Vaseem Khan, Mick Herron, Will Dean and Laura Shepherd-Robinson. It takes place on 17th July, the opening day of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.
The Jane Gregory Bursaries were created to support the next generation of crime writers, offering recipients the opportunity to access the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. One of the bursaries incorporates a Weekend Break Package with accommodation and tickets to all Festival main stage events, while the Festival’s Creative Thursday Workshops are offered in all three bursaries, along with travel contributions.
The three bursaries offer opportunities to attend the annual Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and are open to aspiring writers from under-represented groups including, but not limited to, individuals who are Black, Asian or part of a Minority Ethnic group, those with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community or those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Former publishing staffers launch new publishing services company BeRead
thebookseller.com – Monday March 3, 2025
The former marketing director at Headline Fergus Edmondson and former head of brand for James Patterson at PRH Merle Bennett have launched a new publishing services company called BeRead.
Launched in February 2025, the “complete publishing partner” aims to work across the UK and US to “support writers and publishers at every stage, from manuscript to market”, focusing on publishing strategy and promotion, author brand development and campaign execution and marketing.
It will, the founders say, offer access to “best-in-class” editors, designers, proofreaders, typesetters and more.
Fergus Edmondson has more than 15 years experience in-house at Headline, Penguin Random House UK, Pan Macmillan and, more recently, as a freelance marketing director, working on books by authors including Maggie O’Farrell, Michael Palin and Robert Harris.
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